Greenwich extends marijuana moratorium

Published 8:51 pm, Thursday, November 27, 2014

If you have a prescription for medical marijuana, don't plan on filling it in Greenwich anytime soon.

The town Planning and Zoning Commission this week agreed to extend its moratorium on applications for any marijuana-related business for another year.

The moratorium was initially placed in effect this time last year to give town planning commissioners time to sort out where a company selling legalized cannabis could do business in town, if it were allowed anywhere.

About a dozen other Connecticut towns have implemented moratoriums since state lawmakers legalized medical marijuana in 2011 for people with certain medical conditions. So far, six operations have been licensed in the state, with one currently operating in Bethel.

No applications are currently pending in Greenwich to sell or process marijuana, though one company, Curaleaf, has Greenwich executives involved in the growth of marijuana in Simsbury.

Town Planner Katie DeLuca said the town is trying to find out what the experience has been like for other communities where marijuana dispensaries have opened, but given their recent starts, not much information has been available.

"It's hard to gauge what the impact has been on these communities," she said.

DeLuca said Greenwich has business and office-business zones that would be the likely areas where a marijuana business could fit, along Route 1 or I-95, depending on distances between churches and schools. Production facilities would have to be sited in an industrial zone, which do not exist in Greenwich. More research is necessary.

In addition, DeLuca noted, a number of regulatory issues are still open to question, especially since state and federal laws are not in alignment on marijuana sales.

"This is where we are at, at the moment," she told the planning commission at Town Hall Tuesday.